Packing, packing, packing. This is the part of buying a house that’s just annoying enough to be intolerable. We’ve passed all the major hurdles, and while things could still go south at any time, the likelihood of that happening is pretty darn slim. So we’re just…packing. Any spare time we have is being dedicated to packing. This also means I’m stuck not really being able to do much more in the area of game room prep until I’m actually in the house measuring and organizing stuff. So that just leaves one thing to do: daydreaming about arcade cabinets.

I’ve always wanted to have one. I think they look incredibly cool, and any time I’ve been to someone’s house who had one to call their own I’ve been incredibly jealous. I’ve always loved the look and sound of arcade games, and to have one in my own house, that I can play whenever I want for however long I want, is just a crazy dream of mine. It seems likely that it will forever remain a dream because I can’t imagine I’ll have a space in my new basement to put something like that, nor would I have any idea how to properly choose one. But daydreaming is fun, so let’s go on a little journey!

If I had to put together a list of cabinets I’d want, the top of the list would probably be that Nintendo multi-game cabinet they released a few years ago with Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Mario Bros. in it. Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. are 2 of my all-time favorite arcade cabs, and that machine looks cool as heck. Of course, if I’m looking into the whole multi-game thing, there’s always the option of building some sort of MAME cab. Those things are crazy awesome, but if I got myself a Raspberry Pi, I’d likely have MAME running on that. so I guess that’s a wash. The smarter way of approaching the subject is to have it be more of a quest for games that specifically work better as arcade cabinets. Donkey Kong isn’t an intrinsically different game when played with a standard controller as opposed to an arcade joystick, so while that Nintendo 3-pak is a genuine masterpiece, in the interest of practicality, I’d probably scratch that off my daydream list.

So what games only really play right in a cabinet setting? Well, the first ones that comes to mind are Punch-Out!! and Super Punch-Out!!. I’m a HUGE Punch-Out!! fanatic (as evidenced by the fact that I always hyphenate the game’s title and include the proper 2 exclamation points) and while they’re perfectly playable on MAME emulation, their dual screen nature can’t really be 100% emulated without, you know, 2 screens. Of course, then the issue becomes choosing which one to go for. Even in my fantasy world I can’t justify having 2 Punch-Out!! cabinets in my basement. Grr.

So let’s think more about non-traditional input devices. Those big sit-down machines like After Burner or Hang-On are in no way realistic to possibly own. I don’t even know how I’d get them downstairs. But the stand-up Hang-On cab with just the handlebars would be pretty sweet. But, if I’m going for a game with handlebars, I think Paperboy deserves some serious consideration. There really is nothing quite like Playing Paperboy with those arcade handlebars. But I think if I’m going to pick a game for its specific arcade input device, I’d have to lean toward Arkanoid. My wife loves Arkanoid too, so that’s a plus, but then again I have seen many MAME cabinets with an Arkanoid dial controller built in, so I guess there’s always that.

But honestly, these arcade cabinet dreams are just that. I can’t realistically see myself spending the time and money it would take to get something I would consider satisfactory any time soon. So if I’m dreaming about spending money and space I don’t have, I may as well focus on something that were the opportunity to arise, I would absolutely legitimately try and make work: The Twilight Zone Pinball. If you’ve never had the pleasure, this is one of the very best pinball machines ever made, and I am such a huge fan of it that my wife saw one for sale once and actually tried to see if there was any way for her to buy it for me. Pinball machines look super-cool, and it just doesn’t get much cooler than The Twilight Zone pinball. I could (and probably will) write a whole post about why I love that thing so darn much, but unlike the arcade cabinets I could dream about all day, if I were to see one of these things on sale near me, I would have to seriously consider making it work somehow. It isn’t exactly cheap, nor is it the easiest thing to maintain, but I’d like to think that someday…

Someday it will be mine.

But today is not that day. Like all daydreams, I eventually have to snap back and focus on what’s in front of me, and what’s in front of me is lots and lots of boxes. I’ll get what I’ve got all situated and pretty first, and then I’ll start working on the long term goals. It sure is fun to dream though, isn’t it?

If you could have one arcade or pinball cabinet in your home, what would it be?